"My sword tip was in the hole."
"Then show it to , bud?" asked another.
"Look at the tip of my sword," the soldier said, his face turning red from exerting all his power. "It clearly made a hole."
"Sorry, friend, but I see no hole."
"You guys, it was clearly there."
"Yeah, I saw it," another fellow took the side of the soldier. "I saw it; only the tip was in. The flicker of sparking energy made it hard to see."
Aki, who was standing nearby, didn't let the discussion go any further. "If you had managed to hamper the integrity of the shell, the alarm would have flared," he said. "There was no alarm, which ans your damage is minuscule to call it a success."
"B-but you muted the alarm," the soldiers complained.
"I did not," Aki shook his head, "I only turned down the volu of the alarm by 90%, thinking we needed at least an alert to call the winners. Do you think the Master Runesmith has the ti to examine all your turns?"
Warden coughed. He really hadn't thought about how long he would have to wait if he really was to stand and examine everyone's turn. Thankfully, Aki was more mindful than him.
Sadly, the soldier looked as if he was being wronged. A young fellow, in his early twenties with the strength of Iron rank. His aura spoke volus of his solid foundation; perhaps his tip did penetrate the barrier.
"You still got two more turns, right?" Warden said.
The young fellow suppressed a sigh and withdrew for the next soldier to take his turn.
Looking at their expressions, Warden could tell it wasn't just about gaining a new chance to repair their equipnt anymore. All the soldiers could get their service weapons repaired at no cost in the army; it was only for their own equipnt that they needed to pay a runesmith to repair it. Even then, they received different discounts.
No, this competition had awakened the competitive spirit within the young soldiers. And, of course, it was fun.
"Well, this is good as well," Warden mumbled, smiling. That reminds , I completely forgot about the competition I announced in my class. Shit! I won't be there at the end of the month.
Hell, even his job as a combat instructor wasn't confird with his suspension.
The horn blared again, with Aki's tinkering at a very low volu, but it managed to bring his attention to the winner.
"Ahahaha," Jenni laughed childishly, jumping in and out through the hole she created in the barrier. It was more of a temporary gate, which suspended the runes of the shell for her to isolate a small opening. She continued to laugh for a full minute, jumping in and out at her accomplishnt. "Watch , suckers!"
"Damn, she actually did it," Dawg, a fellow adept, said, sounding surprised.
"The question should be how she did it, no?" Darren said, approaching the gate Jenni created to shed so light on the mystery.
Unfortunately for him, the scripts Jenni made weren't able to maintain their integrity for long. They dissolved into thin air, as the barrier recovered within a blink of an eye.
"Hahaa, wanna know my secret?" the girl was still brimming with glee. "Lick my feet, suckers, and I might tell you."
"Do you think it is that hard for us to find out?" Darren snorted. "You likely isolated the Restoration runes, so the barrier cannot restore itself as you cut the power supply into that opening you created."
"You got it," Jenni smirked. "But it is all theory. Can you utilise it in practice?"
What she said was quite correct, though any prepared adept could do it if they had mastered those runes.
"This arrogant girl," Darren said, clenching his jaw. "Fine, let just show you how your big brother works."
"I don't have ti to watch you fail," Jenni said, and withdrew towards Warden. "Now it is ti for to cash in my reward."
Warden watched as she ca before him, sweat trickling down her forehead. It hadn't been easy for her to carve runes into the barrier, working against the ceaseless force of the barrier for close to half an hour.
"That was quite a brilliant display," Warden praised.
"That's just elentary," Jenni snorted, waving off.
"I don't know much about runesmithing, but that was impressive," Agnes said.
And this ti a smile broke into Jenni's lips from the captain's praise. "Thank you."
"So do you want to make so weapon for you, or other tools?" Warden began, but she stopped him by waving her hand.
"God, no." Jenni licked lips to continue, "What I want is five years, no ten years supply of those ice deserts."
Warden blinked in a mont of stunned silence and then smiled. "I'm surprised you didn't ask for a lifeti's supply."
Jenni looked flustered for the first ti, but she waved it off as if it was nothing but her exhaustion. "I... so it's a deal, right? If you want, I can pay..."
"Do you think I make ice cream all day?"
A perplexed look manifested in her expression. "Then, no ice cream?"
Jenni looked as if he asked her to overwork on runes, pulling another all-nighter again.
Warden scratched his bushy beard, considering her request. "While I do not make them every day, I think we can negotiate to an end. But are you sure about your decision?" Warden asked. "You know you can ask to ntor you on runesmithing for so ti?"
"No," Jenni said, her voice rising unusually. A look of horror spread on her expression. "No, I an, no disrespect to you, Master Runesmith, but I want to start my everyday life exhausted to the bones."
"Co on, I didn't work you that hard."
"I cried myself to sleep," Jenni said, clenching her jaw. Veins popped up on her forehead. "Then you woke in two hours, handed a rejuvenation potion, and sent back to work."
Warden scratched his head at her glare. "Um, is it too late to say sorry?"
Jenni snorted. "I don't want another master who always grumbles at my incompetency," she said, which clarified why she wasn't tempted to get a Master Runesmith as her ntor. "Besides, surely, your skill of making dessert outweighs your skills as a master runesmith."
"You think so?" Warden's expression brightened.
"Cleary, she ant it as a joke," Agnes said. "But why do you look so happy hearing that?"
"Because I like what I made," Warden said. He didn't ntion it the desserts were sothing he recently recovered to his mory. None of them knew of his peculiar amnesia. "And I don't think she ant it as a joke."
"It wasn't a joke," Jenni admitted. "Well, not completely... It's just that I never had sothing like that, so..."
"I can't believe you," Agnes said with a sigh. "Certainly, they were good, but to put them above the masterful skill of runesmithing which can do so many magical things..."
"They are heavenly," Jenni said, and turned to Warden. "Hmm, I might try a couple more."
"Go, leave so for the few of my friends coming in at night," Warden laughed, his mood couldn't be better. "Also, do not open the separate box, it's for soone else."
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